In Sickness and in Health
by peaceful abyss
Summary: A sick Sakura watches amusedly as her teammates try to keep her from dying. "It's just a minor cold!" One-shot.


Even though my main focus is on _Poetically Challenged _for the moment, I wanted to give my lovely reviewers a little gift. This is the gift. Hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I am not, was not, and will not be the owner.

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**In Sickness and in Health**

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There were two things Sakura was absolutely certain of. One was that she had the best teammates in the whole world and the second was that she was going to pummel her teammates if they kept on babying her. She was the hokage's apprentice and the head doctor in the hospital goddamnit. Surely, you would think that her friends would think her capable of handling a small cold. And yet, here she was: thermometer in mouth, layers upon layers of clothes plus a blanket wrapped around her body, and a cup of hot tea in hand as she watched the three male members of her team scurry around trying to save her.

Kakashi had put his orange book away and had taken the job of telling Naruto what to do. It occurred to Sakura that the older man had no idea what needed to be done anyways since he kept sending the blonde to do meaningless tasks. Scrubbing the toilet was a nice chore to have someone else do, but Sakura wasn't sure it was going to help her cold. She watched her team leader keep a watchful eye on Naruto's scrubbing before looking around the house to see what else had to be done. If she didn't get rid of her cold today at least she knew that her house would be spotless.

The loudmouthed blonde was strangely obedient as he furiously scrubbed the already gleaming toilet. He was too frazzled to realize that what he was doing was having no impact on his pink-haired teammate's condition. Naruto had already mopped the floor, tidied up the kitchen, and was now well on his way to be done with the bathroom. Hopefully the cleaner the house is, the better Sakura would feel or at least that was his thought process. He never did have much experience with real sickness since the Kyuubi usually kept him healthy. Sakura watched as Kakashi pointed to a miniscule stain on the sink and watched amusedly as the blonde dived for it before wiping it with demonic speed.

Her thoughts were dashed when the third member of their team walked up to her. Sasuke's movements were always careful but assured, and the rosette watched with interest as he approached her with a neatly folded towel. Never a man with many words, the Uchiha stuffed the towel underneath Sakura's head and gave her a pointed look for her to take it.

Sakura attempted to put her mug of hot tea down beside her, but all of the clothes and blankets surrounding her made it hard for her arms to even move. She blatantly realized that she had yet to actually take a sip of her tea and had just been holding it to warm her hands.

She gave Sasuke a shrug before shooting a look downwards at her hands.

"Hn." The quiet male understood instantly, and instead of taking the cup away, took the towel and pressed it to her head. Surprised, Sakura realized that he was keeping a moist towel on her forehead to help ease the incoming fever. It was quite an awkward position to be in, and Sakura was sure that she was a sight to behold. Sasuke didn't seem to mind though as he just looked intently at the hand he placed on her head as if willing it to instantly make his teammate's cold go away.

Despite the sickly feeling that Sakura still had, she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"You're doing better than the other two." She said softly, motioning towards Kakashi and Naruto who were now onto dusting her furniture. She never knew the duo could be so helpful in household chores, and she mentally put in a note to remember to ask them for help in these types of things in the future.

Sasuke didn't stop staring at his hand as he replied, "Aa. I'm not stupid."

Sakura couldn't help the small grin that appeared. She peeked at the raven-haired man in front of her as she regarded him just as intently.

"Of course not, Sasuke. Although I would have never taken you for a makeshift medic. If I need extra help at the hospital, I could call on you, eh?" She couldn't keep the teasing tone out of her remark, and the Uchiha noticed it without reaction.

"Stop talking. You're sick." He was going to burn the towel with how hard he was staring at it.

"It's just a minor cold! You guys are making it seem like I'm dying." A slight frown marred Sasuke's face. He was obviously displeased with her suggestion.

"You are not dying. You are going to get better. Fast." There was a small added pressure to her forehead.

"Sasuke, pushing the towel on my head isn't going to just make my cold go away, you know."

"Scrubbing the toilet doesn't either." The quick retort came.

"They're just trying to be helpful, and I'm not going to stop them. I mean, why should I? It's free servic.." At this, Sakura fell into a coughing fit. Ah, she hated being sick.

The small noise alerted the other two on the other side of the room which just made them double their efforts. If Naruto's hands went any faster with the dusting then Sakura was pretty sure all of her furniture would be broken. Kakashi seemed to take up interior decorating as he began placing items in new locations. Was feng shui going to help her?

A grunt in front of her told Sakura that Sasuke was also displeased with the small cough. With a fluid grace that Sakura envied, the man took the hot cup of tea from her hands and placed it at her lips.

"Drink."

Even though she was originally displeased with how much of a deal her teammates were making this, Sakura was inwardly pleased that she was being treated like such a princess. Sasuke was offering to serve as a butler and cater to her every need! Giddy with the thought, she lowered her head and took a tentative sip. Scalding hot tea touched her tongue, and she instantly snatched her head back from the offending cup. Great, no taste for a week now.

There was a sigh, and Sakura watched with increasing amusement when Sasuke brought the cup to his lips and blew.

"I could get used to this, you know." Her offhanded remark made him pause in his actions.

"I would hope that this doesn't occur in the future."

"Oh c'mon, serving me a drink can't be that bad. Then again… you are an Uchiha…"

"I meant you being sick." Once again, the girl stopped her thoughts and stared at Sasuke in surprise. She knew he cared for her deeply, but he wasn't always the most verbal one.

"If I knew you were going to be this caring, I would've been sick earlier." She teased.

"Don't joke about this. Sickness should be avoided." Blunt, as always.

"I'd like my tea back now, please."

"Hn." Sasuke lowered the cup to her lips again, and Sakura slowly drank. Much better.

"I could have blown on it to make it less hot myself." She muttered underneath her breath. Of course, the Uchiha caught it. The infamous smirk appeared, and Sakura had to will her erratic heartbeat to stay calm.

"Your.. blowing is inadequate." Sakura stared wide-eyed at the amused man in front of her. That statement sounded strangely.. sexual.. and offensive, now that she thought about it. With a huff, she lifted her mouth from the cup.

"I didn't know you had such high expectations." There was a twinkle in the man's eyes as he bent down until he was eye-level with her. Sakura swore that they were only a centimeter apart before he spoke again.

"I only want the best." Worried Sasuke gone. Cocky Sasuke back.

"Well, I wish you luck in finding it." With an eye roll, Sakura directed her attention back to Naruto and Kakashi who apparently have deemed her house clean enough to take a break. The blonde walked eagerly to her and smiled widely.

"You must be feeling better now! Look at how much I did!" Sakura loved him as a brother, but she just didn't understand him sometimes.

Kakashi followed closely behind Naruto, and his eye inspected Sakura's appearance carefully. His hand came up to rest against her cheek to check her temperature, and the girl flushed on the inside. She knew she was lucky to have such caring friends with her. All of this attention was making her a bit dizzy though. Her sensei seemed to acknowledge the fact as he retracted his hand but not before he gave her an eye crease which told her he was smiling.

"You feel a lot better. The fever must be coming down." At this, the blonde pumped his fist in the air.

"YES! Ha! I saved her!" he rounded on Sasuke who looked at him apathetically. "You heard that? I saved Sakura-chan! What'd you do?" Not bothering to hear Sasuke's retort, Naruto turned back to Sakura.

"Neh.. can I go to Ichiraku now? My stomach's been grumbling a lot." He stared at her with his blue eyes full of hope, and Sakura knew she couldn't keep him away from food.

"Go ahead, Naruto. I'll be fine. You did a good job." She smiled warmly at her hyperactive friend.

"Yay! I'll be back though! I still haven't cleaned your room yet!" With that and a hurrid "C'mon Kakashi-sensei, you're paying." The blonde dragged the older man out of the apartment with him.

Sakura stared at their retreating backs before carefully considering Naruto's words. Did she really want him in her room? Cleaning it would be marvelous, but Naruto might go crazy in there…

As if sensing her hesitation, Sasuke took away the towel and the cup and placed them next to her. He sat down beside her which caught her attention.

"The dobe won't go anywhere near your room." He was a mind reader.

Sakura gave him a grateful smile but couldn't help with her next remark. "And why is that?"

"Only I am allowed there." The curt response was expected, but Sakura still giggled. He was always very protective, but she couldn't help but feel safe with him. She slowly leaned her head closer to him, and the usually emotionally constipated man allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Sorry. I wasn't supposed to be sick today." Sakura mumbled as she gazed at his hand moving closer to hers. Their fingers intertwined, and she couldn't help the warm feeling bubbling inside of her. She loved when he laid down his defenses when they were alone. The soft sides of Sasuke were rarely seen by anyone else but her, and she loved her privilege of being able to share moments like these with him.

"Aa. You couldn't help it." Sakura tilted her head lovingly to the man next to her. His usually stoic expression softened somewhat when he looked back at her.

"But it's our anniversary…" One year had passed by so fast for the couple.

"There will be more to come." A hidden promise. Sakura practically glowed as she slowly inched her head closer to his. She suddenly paused remembering that she was sick, and she tried to back away sheepishly.

However, his other hand that wasn't holding hers held her face towards him.

"B..but I'm sick, Sasuke." Sakura's eyes still drooped slightly in anticipation as she hesitantly inched forward.

"I don't mind." And with that, their lips met, and the gentle caress held a promise for a future with both of them together.

Maybe getting sick wasn't so bad after all.

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